Complicated
by ThePointe
Summary: I wish you all the love in the world, but most of all, I wish it from myself. Or Amanda and Nick have a decision to make. Contest inside! Reviews make me write faster!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ION**

******Please read A/N at the bottom!**

"Hello. We are NY Florist, turning your dreams into masterpieces. You tell us the occasion, we make it special" A bored teenager recited. After her little speech she stole a look at her phone.

"Is there a Miss Amanda present? Miss Rollins?"

"That's me." The southern detective said, slightly confused. She didn't order something did she? "I think you have the wrong person."

The teenager handed her a card that proclaimed Somebody loves you! in cursive script on a pretty lace embroidered card and a long rectangular box with a champagne bow.

"Oh, this is sweet. But I swear that's not mine." Amanda said.

"Yes, it is. It says Amanda Rollins on the card. And we have a 100% satisfaction rate, so if it says Amanda, then it's for Amanda." the frustrated girl said, thrusting the box at her.

By now, this display had caught the attention of most of the people in the bullpen, even Olivia herself peeked out of her office to watch the display. Thanking the annoyed delivery girl, Amanda hesitantly opened the box, letting the bow slip to the ground, forgotten. The sight in the box almost took her breath away. On a bed of crushed, perfumed rose petals lay a intricate silver bracelet adorned with glass beadwork. The intricate silver and glass design formed aching daisy chain bracelet. She carefully pinched one end and held it to the light, as if to confirm it's existence.

Admiring the piece of jewelry, Olivia asked,"Who gave it to you?" The sergeant's head was already swimming with speculations. A boyfriend? The gift was much too nice to be seen on a platonic friendship level. Maybe a parent? Perhaps the woman had a secret admirer?Bewildered, the detective answered that she didn't know. She grabbed the card, searching for a clue.

Amanda Rollins, the card said in a messy scrawl.

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue,

I know you hate flowers,

So here's some jewelry for you!

"Does it say who it's from?" The sergeant asked.

"No" Munch answered "Just a corny, badly written poem"

Amanda rolled her eyes. Maybe the poem was on the corny side, but it was cute. The poem did give her a good guess to who it was. Nick. No one else knew how much she hated flowers, plus the corny poem seemed like something he would write.

* * *

Meanwhile Nick was at home, or rather Amanda's place. He sat on the couch, still in his work clothes from his early shift, not even bothered enough to change. He decided that it would be sweet to surprise Amanda by waiting at her apartment, and also he didn't feel like driving all the way to his house.

Suddenly Amanda entered her apartment, placing her gun and badge on the kitchen island.

"Hey!" Nick said "How was your day? Probably pretty good because you seem extra smiley…."he trailed off when she advanced towards him with _that _look. He knew what _that _look probably wasn't in the mood for small talk. Instead she sat on his lap, kissing him fiercely. This was shaping up to be a great night.

* * *

He woke up, a few hours later on her bed after Amanda had thoroughly tired him out. He found a note and a plate of cookies on the night table. He pulled on a pair of his boxers and grabbed the note. The note read,Thanks for today, in Amanda's small, neat handwriting. He racked his brain thinking about anything sweet or nice he did in the past few days. He must of been doing something right after two rounds like that and the cookies. He grabbed a cookies and decides to surprise her in the kitchen. She is washing a mixing bowl. He sneaks up behind her and wraps her in his arms, placing a kiss on her shoulder.

"Hi" she whispered cutely leaning back into his arms.

"Hi" he said back "I love seeing you wear my shirt." Should he ask about her mood or…Yeah he should probably just go with it, who knows when she will be in such a good mood not not enjoy it.

"I love wearing it, and nothing else" she said flirtatiously whispering in last part in his ear pressing a quick kiss to his check. He let his arms linger around her waist until jokingly spinning her around to continue washing the plates.

"Did you get a new bracelet?" He asked. He might as well bank some good will, because he was probably going to piss her off in the near future. And being attentive couldn't hurt,right? Oh he was wrong, so very wrong. "It's nice."

"Wait" she wriggled out of his grasp. "I thought you got it for me, to surprise me at work."

A teeny, tiny wicked part of him wanted to claim credit and reap the rewards but he decided to be honest. And he realized that she when she found out, she'd get angry. Well angrier. She turned around, so she was facing him furrowed her brows.

"I didn't get you any jewelry" He came clean. "I didn't even know you got anything until a few minutes ago."

"So who gave it to me?" She was seriously confused. Who else would buy her jewelry like that?

Who was this random guy sending his girlfriend jewelry? Okay girlfriend was a bit of a stretch but suddenly the idea of Amanda seeing some guy made him feel oddly outraged and offended. He knew it was in no way rational or fair but that did not stop him from feeling it. Take deep breaths he thought to himself. Focus somewhere else.

"Are you sleeping with someone else?" The second he said those words he could feel himself regretting the words the moment they slipped out. Dammit.

"What are you implying?" She went from confusion to indignant in a second. "That I'm the kind of girl who is always with a different guy? Coming from the guy who is still married, at least on paper? You mean much more to me that." Weirdly enough, instead of looking angry or hitting him her eyes filled with tears; like he had hurt her just by having that assumption. "I think you should go" She turned on her heel and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

Of course he had to mess that up. He excelled at that, killing moods and ruining moments. He dressed in his clothes and left quietly closing the door behind him, accidentally leaving his phone on her kitchen island.

She sat on her bed, hugging her pillow close,trying to stave off the tears that threatened to fall. She felt like a idiot. Nick obviously didn't think of her in that way. Sure, he probably thought that she was a nice lay and okay to have around, but he thought that she was just some skank who bedded every guy she could. All of her attempts to stop from crying were in vain, because soon she was full fledged crying. Her black iPhone ringed on her bed, pushed under the sheets from the earlier tryst.

"Hello?" she answered, hoping her crying wasn't to obvious for the person on the other end. No such luck.

"Mandy" the guy said in his charming Brooklyn accent "Are you okay?" Joe Dumas. He was actually surprisingly sweet. They had become fast friends so after the Romani case and around the 1-6 it was a joke that they were in a relationship. Amanda suspected that he might harbor a few feelings for her, and Fin always seemed to try and talk up his old partner every chance he could.

"Yeah," she sniffled "I had a really shitty day at work"

"Aww, that stinks" Amanda swore she could hear a slight tinge of disappointment cloud the Narcotics detectives voice. It seemed so sweet that her having a bad day, would affect him to the point he felt sad for her. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"As you know, the police ball is coming up. And I'm single, you're single, and maybe you could be my date. I mean if you want to. You don't have to want to. I mean but I would really like it if you did." He swallowed nervously, this side of him radically different than the smooth, suave detective who flirted with her during the Romani case. "Want to, I mean"

"Joe, this is incredibly sweet. I don't know what to say..."

"Oh, it's fine. Keep the bracelet though. I thought would look fantastic on you. Did you like it?"

"I love really shouldn't have; I can't believe you got me something so pretty."

"Not half as beautiful as the owner."

"Stop it." She blushed, feeling terrible for out rightly rejecting him."It's not that I wouldn't love to be your date! I would but honestly, I have so much shit to deal with, and I'm a hot mess"-

He interrupted her "But you are a hot hot mess"

"That was super corny, Joe. But anyway, I'm not saying no, just give me a few days to think about it. See you soon?

"Sure" Joe said anxiously. What would she say?

**A/N:What do you think? I swear to God I was planning on this story being much funnier, as you will see in later chapters. Think How I Met Your Mother funny. For some of the plot events, that show actually inspired me, so if you are a fan, you might recognize a line or a plot event. Actually I am inspired by sitcoms like Modern Family, New Girl, Melissa and Joey and more, for my writing, so as a cute game I'm doing, if you recognize a plot event and you review, if you are interested I will let you pick a secondary ship or create a OC or plot event and I will give you a s/o for one of your stories. I will probably respond to most questions reviewers ask, and most reviews in the story so review!. Please feel more than free to put constructive criticism on anything you noticed, it's what makes me better. Bye and thanks**


	2. Chapter 2: Carrying your Feelings

**A/N: Sorry for the wait guys! Thanks for the sweet comments, they motivate me! **

**I love all of the lovely reviews and reviewers, and I really appreciate them! They make my day. Should I continue? A Lot of this chapter is Maria/ Nick angst, setting the scene for the future. **

**to Alison Sophie and The Guest:I think you might enjoy this angst that's coming up! Slightly out of left field**

Chapter 2 : I will carry all your feelings

**Early Morning**

Maria was an enigma to him now. It's strange, he realized they were married for about 9 or so years and he couldn't tell you how she liked her coffee. She probably didn't know what type of music he liked. He could blame her, but in all honesty he was just as much to blame as her. But he was trying now, doesn't that matter? Maria sits across from him idly staring out of the cafe window, her black nails idly tapping on the metal table. Has she always been this intimidating? Imposing? He remembers a time when he felt something resembling love for her, a time when he fell for her but that seems like a distant memory. What even drew him towards her? What was it? It frightens him that he can't even remember the initial cause magic.

"So…"she says jokingly doing that annoying nail tap thing. God that is annoying.

"So" he responds. He should probably like call her beautiful or something, be halfway romantic. When did all of that stop coming naturally to him? "You look nice."

"Thanks." She half smiles and swings her foot. "I need to talk to you, Nick"

About? Was it something serious? She moved with her daughter across the country, she divorced him, what other news does she have?

She swallows and he could tell that whatever it is, it's difficult to talk about.

"I'm sorry" He wasn't expecting that. They yelled, they ignored each other but they never actually apologized. That was probably a huge part of the end of their marriage.

"After everything that was going on with me, it was all too much, and maybe I was being too hasty-"

"It's not all you." He interrupted her "I have some of the blame, actually most of it."

She waved off her comment impatiently. "So anyway, I realized that we are being selfish. We have a daughter, and the last thing I want for her is to not have a father. I want to actually start again, go back to the old times."

Was that even possible, to turn back the clock? When were those times he loved her? He remembered that there must of been happiness in there, somewhere or they wouldn't have continued, but when were they happy? How did they do it? He realized that they were different people, eons away from the twenty-somethings who fell in love. But the point of marriage was to grow together, and it seemed like they did the opposite. Did he want the old Maria back? Of course, but these last months made him realize that the Maria that he fell in love with, the one that he proposed with did not exist any more. That lovely women was extinct, only kept alive in memories and dreams. He half way suspected that she might feel the same way. He was in no sense, the dashing casanova she dated years ago, real life experiences changed that. Recently, he even was beginning to feel that he didn't even want her back, that they weren't compatible anymore. But he shoved that aside, that couldn't be true. His thoughts shifted to Amanda, now that was different. With her, the slight romance that seemed to develop out of thin air was reminiscent of his earlier times of Maria, but if he had learnt anything, it would be not to chase a feeling. He liked being with his southern blonde coworker, and their relationship was going great albeit her outburst at him a few days ago. But he had a daughter to think about. As much as he loved being with her, did he want to leave the legacy of divorce behind for his daughter, especially when Maria was giving a way out, to correct this mess.

He grabbed Maria's hands, and tried. Tried to feel the way he felt all those years ago. Tried to remember the romance, the infatuation he felt all those years ago.

"Do you want to go to the NYPD ball with me?" He asked, smiling. He could make this work, for Zara.

_**Don't you know your secret's safe with me**_

_**All your worries can be put to, can be put to sleep**_

**Amanda heard **him knock at her door, at around five, she looked down realizing she wasn't exactly dresses to receive visitors, wearing a loose APD tshirt and soffe shorts. She quickly tried to take her hair down from her lazy messy bun and had it looking slightly presentable. She opened the door, not surprised to see Nick. She felt so awkward. Should she apologize for her crying jag, earlier?

**He wanted **to tell her about Maria, she deserved to know but she looked so vulnerable, in her shorts and shirt that made her look younger than her thirty years. Suddenly he couldn't bear even the idea of upsetting her.

"I'm sorry" He apologized

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything" She wasn't mad at him, she felt she was being a little overly sensitive and had already moved past it. She opened the door even wider. "Come in"

**The funny **thing is, Amanda was so much easier than Maria. He let his guard down, and felt actually able to chill. There was no subtext, no awkwardness, or years of built up arguments/stress/secrets. It was just...good, and bringing up Maria would ruin that. That was what she told herself. They were watching trashy reality tv shows, occasionally stealing kisses, and messing around.

"So that ball thing…" Amanda said trying, and failing to bring it up organically. She hid her face in her drink, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

"I can't wait to see you there.I bet you'll look fantastic." He tries to get off that topic. He knew that if he was a halfway decent guy, he'd take her, or at least tell the truth about him and Maria. But he wasn't. He was an asshole for not taking her, and an even bigger one for not explaining. Jerk.

She smiles, doing the whole looking under her bangs thing and blushing and he had to kiss her. He just had to. How could he hurt that face?

**While he left to **quickly use the bathroom, she can't help but let out a little excited squeal. But her thoughts quickly turned to Joe. She texted him, _I'm sorry, There is someone else _and felt extremely bad for the quick dismissal. He texted back in 5 seconds, simply _Don't worry about it. I'll see you there._ She felt bad, but it was Nick. She hoped she didn't hurt Joe.

**Guilt consumed **him. Sure he had fun with Amanda, felt better than he had in years but he made a commitment. He had to stick it through.

**A/N: Nick you jerk! The big blowout is coming in the next chapter. If you can guess the song that this is from, you can make a OC! First come, first served and reviews make me write faster! PLEASE GIVE ME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!**


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